Albert Humbert

Pierre-François Humbert

(24 February 1835 - 10 October 1886, France)

Cover caricature for Le Sifflet of 31 March 1872

Albert Humbert was a French caricaturist and illustrator. Born in Vesoul, he was best known for as the creator of the satirical paper La Lanterne de Boquillon. Humbert started his small-sized and mainly autographic paper in August 1868, most likely inspired by La Lanterne de Rochefort, the clandestine paper Henri Rochefort that started a couple of months earlier.

La chasse à l'ours (L'Eclipse 27, 26 July 1868)

Humbert edited over 700 issues until his death in 1886, and the paper was continued by his daughter into the 20th century. The paper's main character was Boquillon, a soldier for the Republic, whom Humbert had previously introduced in the pages of L'Éclipse. Humbert's handwritten texts were alternated with illustrations, and regularly mocked the church, the judiciary and the army.

Albert Humbert is also the author of comical and satirical novels like 'Cadavres sur cadavres', 'Tailleboudin' and 'Les Gens de Velleguindry'. Besides L'Éclipse, Humbert also contributed to other satirical magazines of the time, such as Le Sifflet and La Lune.